email marketing from constant contact reaches people in a place they're checking every day -- their inbox. and it gives you the tools to create custom emails that drive business. it's just one of the ways constant contact can help you grow your small business. sign up for your free trial today at constantcontact.com/try. ♪ ♪ no two people have the same financial goals. pnc works with you to understand yours and help plan for your retirement. visit a branch or call now for your personal retirement review.

ah. 4g, huh? verizon 4g lte. 700 megahertz spectrum, end-to-end, pure lte build. the most consistent speeds indoors or out. and, obviously, astonishing throughput. obviously... you know how fast our home wifi is? yeah. this is basically just as fast. oh. and verizon's got more fast lte coverage than all other networks combined. so it's better. yes. oh, why didn't you just say that? huh-- what is he doing? good morning. i'm richard lui in for chris jansing. venezuelan president hugo chavez died yesterday of cancer, a fiery revolutionary, outspoken in his opposition to the united states and kinmanship with cuba's leader fidel castro. seven days of mourning were declared. all school was suspended for the week. an elaborate funeral is expected

on friday. here's reaction. >> he changed the mentality of the poor people. venezuela, it's like most of the countries in latin america, you know, we are crowded, poor people, they don't have education. they don't know, you know, who can be bad or who can be worse. he could change -- of everyone. he took power of the country. he -- so i really think again, that he deserved it. >> more reaction from caracas, as nbc's mark potter, thanks for being with us. chavez coming to power t. the poor in the hills or the -- that ride over your shoulders. how are the poor versus others reacting today? >> reporter: well, the poor are reacting with sorrow and i think we're going to see a lot of that very shortly. at first the reaction here was

one where people were somber. a lot of people didn't believe he had died, even though he had been sick for a couple years, and the news about his condition was worsening. when he finally died. people just couldn't believe it. in part that's because of the his largest than life personality. he was 58 years old. people have a heart time with that. the quiteude we saw this morning there's an event starting just about right now. his body is going to be moved in a procession through caracas that will take hours to do it, move his body from the military hospital where le died to the military academy where he was trained long ago from the north part of the city to the society part of the city. it will take hours. the parade route is expected to be jammed, and certainly the areas where the body ends up and will lie in state. you'll see a great outpouring

from the people who supported him, that's largely the poor people here. >> mark, his hand-picked successor, the vice president, he is now in power. how much authority does he have? any sense of a transition or that the country may have lost some confident along the way here? >> i think he has a lot of support. over time they developed a party here with a structure, so it's not just one man. they actually have did. the military says they're standing behand maduro. he is in command. he'll face the opposition candidate and we'll see what happens. but right now definitely in charge. quickly here, the oil infrastructure so important to the country. any word for the government or any sense of a change there in its capacity or ability?

>> reporter: in terms of oil, there's nothing that's been said about that. that's never really changed. all that fighting with the united states verbally still had nothing to do with the oil business. they were still selling $40 billion worth of oil to the united states. 40% of their product went to the united states. it's only 8% of what the united states takes in, but a huge part of the venezuelan economy. no indication that will change at all. and if the opposition candidate wins and is more favorable to the u.s., that could bring a change, but right now, no sense that it will change in the negative. all right. live in ka rack razz, mark potter, thanks for that. hoar at home there's hope for a better relationship. in a statement president obama said this, quote, the united states reaffirms its support for the venezuelan people and interest in developing a constructive relationship. the united states remains committed to policies that promote democratic principles,

the rule of law and respect to human rights. senator marco rubio said the venezuelan people have an opportunity to turn the page on one of the darkest periods in its history and embark on a new, al bet it different path to restore the rule of law in a nation that deserves so much better. michael hirsch and "the washington post" editorial writer ruth marcus. good to see both of you again. michael, how might his death represent a different opportunity for a stronger relationship with the united states here? >> well, he was really a unique quality. it's difficult to say what the vice president who will be interim president will do, he was very devoted to chavez, and chavezista movement.

he hurled assaults at the united states, so there's no change there. but he's also said to be a less charismatic, someone more willing to compromise, so there's certainly a possibility anyway that things could move beyond the democrat gogry we have seen for the last 12, 13 years. >> yeah, certainly not in support of the united states and trying to separate itself politically as well as economically. ruth, to you, we were just mentioning marco rubio. i also want to real this to you, from former congressman joe kennedy. he had this to say -- president chavez cared deep by about the poors of venezuela and other nations around the world. there are close to 2 million people in the united states who received free heating assistance thanks to his leadership. what's your thought in what are the political implications of

chavez's death. >> as you were reading that statement from former congressman i was having flashback to dennis rodman's embrace to the north korean leader. i don't think that congressman kennedy has served himself well by -- in advertising or in that statement elevating chavez. it seems to me that, look, the relationship with venezuela can't get worse than it was under chavez, but it's going to take a significantly long time to bakley let the venezuelan people sort of report what seems to me to be the mistake of chavezism. if you listen to vice president maduro, when was wack adoodle things he said, including suggesting that the united states had figured out how to give president chavez cancer, it will take a long time to get this relationship on a better

track, which is why you saw the president's statement so cautious, so hesitant, so he doesn't want to dig things deeper by attacking chavez, but it is a long slog. >> again, we will talk about what the united states should do or what it might do in dealing with this transition in about the next 15 minutes, michael, stand by, i want to get to another big story we're following, the house in session, beginning to debate preventing a shutdown. due to the snowstorm, the debate was pushed up a day. let's bring in congressman luke mecir, republican from indiana, a member of the budget committee. not in the snow, because it's cold outside. representative, let's talk about this continuing resolution to keep the government running. will it go through with little drama, do you think? in essence action a government shutdown now completely off the

table, do you think? >> i believe the bill will pass today. there's at least enough votes to get it through. we'll have to wait and see how bipartisan that is. i think people understand on both sides of the aisle. we have a debate here. we ought to allow this budget process to play out through the end of the fiscal year, and i'm hopeful it can pass in the senate. >> you said earlier earp gets the sequester. >> well, i've said before i believe the structure of the cuts out to be restructured, but i believe we need the $85 billion in redestruction. it results in about 2% of our -- about two pennies on the dollar. surery we can find that money somewhere, and that would be included in this continuing resolution. >> are you for the sequester

now? >> i am for the spending reductions in the sequester, the $85 billion. i'd like to see it restructure. i think it leans too heavily on national defense. frankly i even think in the other discretionary spending areas, we can do it in a more sensible way. >> to the point you just bring up, representative, the republican plans to keep the government running includes money to soften the blow of the sequester, $10 billion would be shifted to pentagon operations from other defense-related accounts, but the heritage foundation points out this would not address the sequester's impact on military readiness and defense capabilities. which do you agree on? >> i believe this gets us part of the way there. it doesn't solve the whole challenge. i'm optimistic we can find an agreement here, but this debate is the question about whether we'll raise taxes to do it. i would not have supported the

january 1st tax increase action but it brought $600 billion to the table. the president promised a 4 to 1 balance in the campaign and we needed to get serious. >> when we talked about the effects on defense spending because of the sequester as well as a continuing resolution, which continues that level in terms of monetary value, what are some of the suggestions you would make? because you said you did not agree with the structuring of it. how would you restructure that debt? >> i think at times you have to question whether the president is choosing government waste over government workers or government waste over those who are the pitches of these much-needed programs. i talked to nobody who believes that our federal government is so effective and so efficient that we can't save two pennies on the dollar, but we spend $2 billion on a free program. we develop a menu for the food on a trip to mars yesterday unplanned. several hundred thousand on robotic squirrels for the

military. there are clearly accomplices we could save before looking for the hardest, most -- first. thank you so much. in, warmth of the rotunda for the moment, for that part of the hill at least, very a very good afternoon. there are some signs that the president is reaches outs to the republicans to hammer out of the some of the details. trying to replace the sequester. he's inviting several republicans to dinner tonight, and he spoke with lindsey graham yesterday. here's what graham had to say. >> i'm very encouraged by what i see from the president in terms of substance and tone. he's calling people. this is how you solve hard problems. what i see from the president is probably the most encouraging engagement on a big issue i have seen since the early years of his presidency.

>> you know, critics have said what took so long for him to meet with lawmakers to try to hammer out a deal? is that fair? >> i do think it's fair. i have a big question, if we knew the sequester was coming for lo this many months, and if we thought there was some kind of a group of sensible caucuses the president has called t. the common-sense caucus, that he could meet with, why did we twiddle our thumbs under the sequester hit? i do think -- but i do think two things. first of all, it is encouraging that the president is doing this. i also thing what's particularly encouraging is there are some cracks in the antitask absolutely no additional taxes beyond what we agreed to in january, republican position. so center graham, center ayotte and possibly others have said

they would enter tain additional revenue as part of tax reform, as part of a broader agreement. everybody knows that's precisely what we need to get to, but until this last week or so, the republican position had been taxes, been there, done that, no more that had really good news in if holds and spreads. >> this is as the president makes a trip to capitol hill next week to meet with some of the leaders there, too? >> i do think there is a possibility of that. there's a sense here, and your questions got right to this point, that the republicans see the sequester as kind of a victory. it even seems to be popular, if you look at the reaction of wall street that took the dow to new heights. there's a sense that the president and the obama white

house oversold the dangers of what was soon once as a dooms daze scenario. and that a cut will not do that much damage in the end, according to the congressional budget office. it might knock off growth about 4% to 5%. so with a sort of new confidence and the sense they got these spending can you see, there's an increase in republicans' confidence. >> michael and ruth, since you brought up the dow, it's up 52 points, almost 14,305, still reaches new heights. thank you so much. we'll have more on what the dow means later in the show. mid-atlantic states are getting walloped by a massive storm. look at this here. they could see up to a foot of snow combined with high winds. federal offices in the nation's capital are closed today, and

about 16,000 flights have been canceled around the country because of this storm. the storm is expected to linger into friday for the northeast. we'll get a live report from weather channel's jim cantore coming up in the next half hour. hi i'm terry, and i have diabetic nerve pain. i worked a patrol unit for 17 years in the city of baltimore. when i first started experiencing the pain, it's hard to describe because you have a numbness but yet you have the pain like thousands of needles sticking in your foot. it was progressively getting worse, and at that point, i knew i had to do something.

when i went back to my health care professional, that's when she suggested the lyrica. once i started taking the lyrica, the pain started subsiding. [ male announcer ] it's known that diabetes damages nerves. lyrica is fda approved to treat diabetic nerve pain. lyrica is not for everyone. it may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, changes in eye sight including blurry vision, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or skin sores from diabetes. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain, and swelling of hands, legs, and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. those who've had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. ask your doctor about lyrica today. it's specific treatment for diabetic nerve pain. to hear more of terry's story, visit lyrica.com.

live pictures in ka rack cause, 10:48 a.m., the body of hugo chavez now being moved from the military hospital to the military academy. this could take hours, according to our mark potter. it's 30 minutes ahead of eastern time. chavez changing their local time by half an hour just to be difficult than the united states in his anti-american moves.

there are serum many questions left unanswered on what his leaacy will be. joining me now is michael shifter, president of the interamerican dialogue. as we watch some of the live pictures there. loved by the masses, and there's questions of his successor. how much should should the u.s.

be concerned about this transition of power, understanding that chavez was so well loved. well, you they -- of course there's great uncertainty. chavez was a dominant, overwhelming figure. he overshadowed everything for 14 years, but the most likely scenario is there will be elections held. maduro is in a strong position. all the different factions will close ranks and support him. >> so a smooth transition you're saying? >> in the short term, i think. in the next couple months pretty smooth and pretty stable. the opposition is very demoralized, fragmented, so i would expect that. what happens in the medium tern e. 8, 10 months or so, it could become complicated. >> the economic problems are profound.

there are foot shortage says, crime is off the charts, and maduro doesn't have chavez' charisma, so you're likely to be infighting over time, but not in the next couple months. >> but if we just talk about social media, chavez was a love of twitter, had many followers, and maduro doesn't seem off any presence in that space. that personal connection that chavez had had with the masses certainly will be a question going forward. you mentioned the chavezista revolution and having to pay for that. the question of food being available to the masses there in venezuela, and then you add other economic point, that cuba -- chavez giving cuba up to $4 billion in oil subsidies annually, can venezuela continue to do that going forward and, if

it is unable to do that, will we then see cuba itself losing a major ally going forward? >> here again i think in the short term you'll see the level continue. maduro has close tied to the cuban government. he was the favored candidate to succeed chavez, i think there will be a sign of continued commitment, but there will be pressures at home for maduro to focus more on venezuela and the situation there. over time you may see a gradual reduction in that level of subsidy, and venezuela really replaced the -- and has help kept cuba afloat. i think the cubans are aware of that's correct partly why the reform process is going forward. the cubans understand the dependence they've had is not available. >> how should the understand deal with this process? >> i think the united states

should be very cautious, consult with allies. brazil will be a major player in the transition. it's a major power in south america. michael, thank you so much. >> thank you. the full senate could vote tore on whether to confirm john brennan. yesterday the senate intelligence committee approved the president's nomination, only coming after the white house gave senators access to classified documents used to justify the use of drone attacks. with hertz gold plus rewards, you skip the counters, the lines, and the paperwork. zap. it's our fastest and easiest way to get you into your car. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz. exciting and would always come max and pto my rescue. bookstore but as time passed, i started to notice max just wasn't himself. and i knew he'd feel better if he lost a little weight. so i switched to purina cat chow healthy weight formula.

i just fed the recommended amount... and they both loved the taste. after a few months max's "special powers" returned... and i got my hero back. purina cat chow healthy weight. thto fight chronic. osteoarthritis pain. to fight chronic low back pain. to take action. to take the next step. today, you will know you did something for your pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is a pain reliever fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one non-narcotic pill a day, every day, can help reduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens, you have unusual changes in mood or behavior or thoughts of suicide. anti-depressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. cymbalta is not for children under 18. people taking maois, linezolid or thioridazine or with uncontrolled glaucoma should not take cymbalta. taking it with nsaid pain relievers, aspirin, or blood thinners may increase bleeding risk. severe liver problems, some fatal, were reported.

signs include abdominal pain and yellowing skin or eyes. tell your doctor about all your medicines, including those for migraine and while on cymbalta, call right away if you have high fever, confusion and stiff muscles or serious allergic skin reactions like blisters, peeling rash, hives, or mouth sores to address possible life-threatening conditions. talk about your alcohol use, liver disease and before you reduce or stop cymbalta. dizziness or fainting may occur upon standing. take the next step. talk to your doctor. cymbalta can help. [ construction sounds ] ♪ [ watch ticking ] [ engine revs ] come in. ♪ got the coffee. that was fast. we're outta here. ♪ [ engine revs ] ♪

something this delicious could only come from nature. new nectresse. the 100% natural no-calorie sweetener made from the goodness of fruit. new nectresse. sweetness naturally. into policy tex now, where two democratic senators are going above and beyond the president. tom harkin of iowa and george miller of california will introduce legislation to raise the minimum wage to 10.10 an hour and peg it to inflation. the president had called for raising it is minimum wage to $9 by 2015. ashley judd will be at cpac,

kind of. the attendees will be screening the movie "olympus has fallen" word is that viewers will not want to fills the first view minutes to find out her fate. joe biden made a surprise visit and helped serve a wild game dinner to more than 500 gusts. wild boar, muskrat and goose salad. chris jansing is away, sending us this. she says, my must read is trending, the most-read story in "the san francisco chronicle." it's up on our facebook page at you hardly know i exist. that's too bad. 'cuz if my pressure relief valve gets stuck... [ booooooom! ]

...we hot water heaters can transform into rocket propelled wrecking balls. and if you got the wrong home insurance coverage, it's your bank account that might explode. so get allstate. [ dennis ] good hands. good home. make sure you have the right home protection. talk to an allstate agent. ♪ all the things we love about sunday meals into each of her pot pies. like tender white meat chicken and vegetables in a golden flaky crust that's made from scratch. marie callender's pot pies. it's time to savor.

. former congresswoman gabrielle giffords is urging

senators to support background checks. >> for me, congress must act. let's get this done. senators chuck grassley and jeff flake have come from states with a large number of gun owners. the ads cusp as the senate panel is said to take votes on -- joining us is pollster chris wilson and columnist for the hill karen finley. the ad comes from americas for responsible solutions. that's the super-pac founded by giffords and her husband mark kelly. senators grassley and flake also on the senate judiciary committee, considering all the gun control legislation, and they have an "a" rating from the nra. when you look at the ad and strategy here, is targeting these senators good thinking? >> absolutely. these votes in the judiciary committee coming up will be very

important particular larry as we've seen the gun trafficking legislation moving forward, the background checks, is where we have the most agreement from the american people in terms of support and among in the meantime ra members. nra is vehemently opposing it, so going after key votes is important to keep this legislation on track. >> they're trying, of course, to bring the votes together. "the washington post" reporting that some of the gun lobbyist strongest allies are starting to break with the nra to support background checks for private gun sales. chris, let me ask you this, gun makers have been wary of crossing the nra in fear of retribution, so how key is this going forward? >> i think the ads themselves are very powerful, and follow a well-established approach, wheres take someone who's the victim and go after background checks. those are supported, but the fact is that it doesn't do a lot

to solve 9 problem. it just isn't going to have an overall impact. >> the problem i have with that argument is that one of the key things that the nra has blocked over the last several years is research, so we don't have an accurate picture of what has or hands been prevented. i would say i take it from the folks on the front lines, police chiefs, we saw this last week in a very heated exchange with the police chief i believe from milwaukee, who said the number one this would that would be the most helpful is background checks, so they know who has guns, they know what criminals are trying to get guns. we have not been able to do the kind of research that will tell us, give us a more accurate picture. >> chris? >> the hardest thing to do is

overhaul the mental health systems somewhere lunatics are identified and treated. americans think that would do more to -- liberals don't like guns, they don't like -- >> that's not true. >> -- whether it has an effect or not. >> you don't get to speak for all quote/unquote liberals and see people don't like guns. gabby giffords is a democrat, her husband is a democrat, and they have gun owners, and there are plenty of democrats who are gun owners, as the supreme court, as scalia himself has said, there are responsibilities that come with our rights. i find it so interesting. >> you fact is they are mental health issues -- >> that's only a part of the problem. >> let's take care of the mental health issues first. and that's where the american people -- >> the majority of what happens in the crime that happens in

this country, is not necessarily tied to mental health. we have to have a multipronged approach. we need to make sure that people -- every responsible gun owner in this country should want to make sure that criminals -- that's what we're talking about here, criminals and mentally ill people who should not have guns do not have guns here. >> we have to leave it there. >> they have nothing done to affect that. we already have the brady bill. we'll have to leave it there. thank you so much for your conversation on this very issue today. it's a no day for federal workers in washington, students across the mid-atlantic states. a major winter storm is packing high winds and up to a foot of snow. jim, as you look at it, how crippling might this get? >> well, we're running out of time. every subtle break we get in between the snow, it actually changes on over to rain like it is now, then believe it or not, richard, that sun -- that sun is warming this a123589, okay?

it is warming this asphalt, and warming the whole column of air. so it makes it harder for a storm like this without the elevation to give us an all-snow situation. in fact, let me show you a few pictures. first of all, the white house lawn is green here. they pretty much have the same weather. as we do, here's a shot of reagan national. if you take eight airports nationwide, we are talking about 3200-plus flights that have been canceled. all right? a lot of them in chicago and a lot of them here with the three airports in baltimore, dulles and also reagan. but here's what's interesting, all these shots are low elevation shots. let's go west up about 500 feet and about 40 miles to my west. look at the difference here. boom, big snow, 4 to 6 inches, a heavy, wet, what i call almost white mud, so it's accumulating

on the trees and powers lines and that give us some power outages as we continue to get the accumulating snow. the big question is, will we get a changeover to snow here, or at least a long enough period of snow to accumulate? that equals the yearly total so far, perhaps more to come. back to you. >> the shots from the west are ominous, heading your weigh. >> reporter: yeah. thank you so much. checking the news feed, reaction is mixed to the tsa's policy change allowing passengers to carry small knives and sports equipment on board planes. the union representing about 10,000 flight attendants calls the policy dangerous and short-sighted, but passengers agree with the change, say it's common kegs. a crane collapses in oregon, it was lifting a new support structure that holds up high voltage power lines. it call one of the power lines, causing the crane to buckle into the bay.

no one was hurt. are they having a little princess? when handed a teddy bear, she'll say thank you, i'll that i can that for my d -- the duchess is due this summer. cnbc's mandy drierie, watching the dow so far this morning, and still going up up up, and what is driving this, what's fueling it? >> a lot of it is momentum. there are a lot of positive factors driving it higher, not least of course the federal reserve pump priming, the economy has been improving and stocks are still considered to be cheap other cheaper, compared to other asset classes, but in terms of some of the performers, i just wanted to show you the best dow performer since 2007, which of course is the previous record high. those best dow performers have

been home depot, ibm and mcdonald's. i'm certainly hoping the mcdonald's part of el a conveys. the worst have been acoa, bach of america and hp. we are at these historic at the highs. remember when the dow first hit 10,000? there are all those dow 10,000 hats passed around, with crowds of reporters outside. now it just feels a little different, i have to say. >> you and i were talking the other day, right before the record peak yesterday. you were saying that perhaps we could see a turn, though. that mike some of the concerns? >> that is why it does feel different. i think people have been burned before, so people are wary about all jumping on the bandwagon, because they don't want to get burned again. some people even feel a little correction would not be unhealthy.

for one it would allow those that missed out to get in a cheaper price. >> we certainly hope not. thank you so much. >> thank you. americans love pizza. it's big business. according to a statisticbrain.com, 93% of the united states eat at least one slide a month, with last year's annual sales totalling $32 billion. "travel & leisure" is out with its list of cities with a superior slice. surprise, number one, no, not really, chicago. p for the challe suds-maker? i'm gonna need more than that to get through the rest of these dishes! i want more suds! dawn? you won't last. [ female announcer ] a drop of dawn has active suds that stay stronger longer, so you can clean 2x more greasy dishes.

to get the job done. you're full of suds after all. now drop and give me twenty spaghetti bowls! [ female announcer ] dawn does more. [ sponge ] so it's not a chore. investors could lose tens of thousands of dollars on their 401(k) to hidden fees. is that what you're looking for, like a hidden fee in your giant mom bag? maybe i have them... oh that's right i don't because i rolled my account over to e-trade where... woah. okay... they don't have hidden fees... hey fern. the junk drawer? why would they... is that my gerbil? you said he moved to a tiny farm. that's it, i'm running away. no, no you can't come! [ male announcer ] e-trade. less for us. more for you.

accomplishing even little things can become major victories. i'm phil mickelson, pro golfer. when i was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis, my rheumatologist prescribed enbrel for my pain and stiffness, and to help stop joint damage. [ male announcer ] enbrel may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, nervous system and blood disorders, and allergic reactions have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common.

you should not start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if you have symptoms such as persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. since enbrel helped relieve my joint pain, it's the little things that mean the most. ask your rheumatologist if enbrel is right for you. [ doctor ] enbrel, the number one biologic medicine prescribed by rheumatologists. because all these whole grains aren't healthy unless you actually eat them ♪ multigrain cheerios. also available in delicious peanut butter. healthy never tasted so sweet. be careful. the results from a study of

35,000 hip replacement surgeries show women are more likely to need further procedures on hip implants after surgeries than their male counterparts. researchers hope the data will help better manage patients and create better implants. cities across the country had their worst nightmare come true as sequester cuts hit their local balance sheets and tough reductions have to be made. in cleveland, for instance, officials say programming for homeless students could be cut by almost $40,000. authorities at the bustling denver airport are expecting security lines to be about 50% longer. in beantown, boston university, which has hundreds of hill onin federal grants is already starting to withhold some. over to the west coast, where last is looking ahead to the cuts as well as a new mayor to deal with them. joining me now is mav reston.

people have been bemoaning the effects, l.a. specifically, how it may affect l.a.x., how widespread are the concerns in los angeles, in the southland? >> well, the concerns are very widespread. i think the truth is, as you all have been reporting, is that we don't know what the impact is. l.a. is looking at a hit of about $is 15 million, which is a hit they could probably manage during normal times, but as you know they've been flirting with fiscal insolvency, so money is rately tight. they're looking at potential kits to homeless programs, housing programs, police hiring, so this really has become a big issue in the mayor's race. the airport is already a total nightmare. we're hearing about longer lines in customs and potentially longer security lines a as we look forward to the furloughs for the employees coming up.

we were talking about the nay yorral race, bitterly fought, and it looks like it will head to a runoff. >> that's right. >> how much did sequestration come into the race is it? >> the big debate, there's nothing else to talk about in los angeles other than how they're going to deal with the budget problems, so it did come up a lot, because all of the candidates are trying to figure out where they're going to make the cuts, whether or not they can promise police hiring in the future. when there's no money, they don't have a lot to promise the voters, so -- but none of the candidates have given specific answers how they'll deal with the budget shortfall in the neighborhood of a billion over the next couple years. we're going to hear more about that in the runoff coming up, which we know will be between eric garcetti and wendy gruel.

tau about outgoing outgoing mayor villaraigosa, who is term limited here. he was a game player, but also plagued by personal scandals which "los angeles times" is covering, such as the affair with a tv anchor. does he have a future in national politics? >> i think we'll have to wait and see. he's been very coy saying what he wants to do next. he had a very mixed term with the scandals that you mentioned, but he's been effective in getting some of the rail projects going forward, a lot of work on transportation issues. he was discussed as a potential pick for obama's cabinet on the transportation front. there's a lot of opportunities coming up here. obviously after jerry brown finishes his run as governor, there's potential po villaraigosa to run. we have some upcoming stars

here, the attorney general kamela harris is very popular. also hilda solis, obama's labor secretary, who has come back and is looking at her political options. we'll just have to see whether he can stand up to that competition. >> and lieutenant governor newsom as well. thank you very much for your time today. we're looking at what's coming out of the pictures have only been of those of throngs of people sad to see the loss of hugo chavez so far. today's tweet of the day is about the death of the venezuelan president, who had some friends in hollywood. oliver stone tweeting -- hated by the entrenched classes, hugo chavez will live forever in history, my friend rest timely in a peace long earned. ♪

the middle of this special moment and i need to run off to the bathroom. ♪ i'm fed up with always having to put my bladder's needs ahead of my daughter. ♪ so today, i'm finally talking to my doctor about overactive bladder symptoms. [ female announcer ] know that gotta go feeling? ask your doctor about prescription toviaz. one toviaz pill a day significantly reduces sudden urges and accidents, for 24 hours. if you have certain stomach problems or glaucoma, or can not empty your bladder, you should not take toviaz. get emergency medical help right away if your face, lips, throat or tongue swells. toviaz can cause blurred vision, dizziness, drowsiness and decreased sweating. do not drive, operate machinery or do unsafe tasks until you know how toviaz affects you. the most common side effects are dry mouth and constipation. talk to your doctor about toviaz.

texas governor rick perry is slamming the head of u.s. immigration and enforcement for releasing thousands last week. he said, quote, the release of criminal aliens into our communities by immigration and customs enforcement is unconscionable, and this by far surfaces -- the detines were released in an effort to save money in light of the sequester. joining us is seth freedlester. we're talking about this, seth, are these private prisons they're now in the cross hairs of sequestration and immigration reforms, what happens to them? >> the u.s. detains every year more than 400,000 non-citizens

as their deportation cases get adjudicated. what happened last week is the federal government released several hundred of those. republicans have started yelling saying we're releasing criminals into the street. the reality is these are folks waiting on civil immigration issues, to see whether or not they're going to be deported. advocates have long said these are people who don't need to be kept behind bars, yet stuck there, obvious separated from their families, losing contact with their children so this release is a relatively small drop in the bucket. many people would say many more should be released. >> the detainees are housed in what, some 250 privately owned i.c.e. detention facilities around the country. they run by a different set of rules. they also get money from the government, about $160 per person per se. why are they able to operate under different rules?

some calling it purgatory, if you will, getting lost in the system. >> many of these immigration detainees are held in private facilities, facilities owned by -- corporation of american, or geo group, major players. they immigrant detainees are nor filling up their beds. they are profit for these companies. laws that sort of create -- open up these prisons for the public, make it possible to get information often don't apply to private facilities. we often don't know what happens. i've been inside these prisons, is that people are locked up for extended periods of time. people lose contact where their kids, an investigation i did for colorlines.com, i found there are thousands of children stuck in u.s. foster care systems because their parents are behind bars. "operation streamline" is what we're alluding to, this

plan that pays the private prisons. men, women, children, immigration violations, they're put in there for as much as ten months, it costs about a billion a year. this is big money. how might immigration reform affect this system here, the operation streamline, very quickly. >> the real question is what will it do to the detention? on the one hand it could mean that fewer people are locked up. we continue to criminalize things, things like crossing over the border, you are getting people locked up in federal prisons on criminal charges because of the things like operation streamline. thank you for coming by to talk about it. that wraps up this hour. chris will be back tomorrow. thomas roberts is up next with his hour. what you got there? >> good morning, everybody. the agenda next hour, the storm being called the snow-quester, it's already shutting down parts of the capital.

hundreds of thousands in d.c. are already without power. then the real sequester and guess who is coming to dinner? president obama is planning a sit-down with top republicans. we're going to break down who is invited about the bitter gridlock over. and the death of a firebrand. the world reacting to the death of hugo chavez. ♪

[ jen garner ] what skincare brand is so effective... so trusted... so clinically proven dermatologists recommend it twice as much as any other brand? neutrogena®. recommended by dermatologists 2 times more than any other brand. now that's beautiful. neutrogena®. ♪ try align. it's the number one ge recommended probiotic that helps maintain digestive balance. ♪ stay in the groove with align. ♪ need help keeping your digestive balance in sync? try align.